Federal regulators issue warning to Alabama officials over Oak Grove Mine concerns
In March, 2024, W.M. Griffice received injuries that led to his death after a home explosion that his family says was caused by methane gas leaking up from a mine beneath his house. The family has filed a lawsuit against Crimson Oak Grove Resources, the company operating the mine. In December, the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement sent a formal notice to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission to force Oak Grove Mines to comply with the law.
Griffice’s death served as a catalyst with members of the Oak Grove community — who widely believe the explosion was the result of methane gas leaking into the house and igniting — to unite in calling for something to be done by the mine and state officials. Lawyers for Oak Grove have denied responsibility for the home explosion.
In August, a community meeting was held to discuss the concerns of residents living in Oak Grove. In addition to concerns over methane gas leading to more home explosions, residents also were concerned over the impact the mining had on the surface their homes were constructed upon.
The mining company is using a method called longwell mining, in which coal is sheared away, and the mine is allowed to collapse afterwards.
As the ground collapses, it causes ground subsidence at the surface, which damages the foundations of homes and other structures beneath the mine. The process also causes fissures in the ground which can release methane gas, which is highly combustible. In addition to gas escaping through fissures, it also can come up through wells in the ground.
The meeting in August was facilitated by State Rep. Bryan Brinyark. Kathy Love, the director of ASMC, was in attendance and spoke to residents. No representatives from Oak Grove Mine were present.
Primarily, the focus of ASMC was on subsidence, and Love and other representatives informed residents that they could receive compensation for damages caused by subsidence if they allowed a pre-mine survey of their property to demonstrate damages.
In early November, federal investigators with OSMRE went to visit Lisa Lindsay’s home to inspect her home. Lindsay was a neighbor of Griffice, and felt the explosion that destroyed his home.
Inspectors with OSMRE later confirmed that the methane levels coming out of recently installed vents to safely route methane from the ground into the atmosphere read at the explosive limit of methane.
The 10 day notice sent to ASMC by the federal agency requires that Alabama regulators have Oak Grove Mine “revise their permit to address the absence of an effective methane monitoring and reporting plan and to update the well survey to include abandoned wells that may transmit methane to the surface after mining.”
Alabama top stories in brief
Broadband expansion on target to utilize ARPA funds before deadline
- All state agencies have until Dec. 31, 2024 to designate where American Rescue Plan Act funds will be spent.
- According to Kenneth Boswell, the commissioner for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, the agency has already taken care of obligating where funds will be spent.
- Over $400 million in ARPA funds are going towards expanding broadband access in Alabama.
- The federal deadline for projects completion is December 2026.
Alabama Commission on Higher Education seeks 6% funding increase
- The request from ACHE would come out of the Education Trust Fund, if approved, and would mean a total budget of $2.56 billion. This is an increase of $144.7 million from the previous year’s budget.
- The increase includes an inflationary price adjustment, additional funding for salary and employee benefits, funding for the Hunger Free campus initiative and funding for the Alabama Literacy and Numeracy Act Initiative, among other items.
Google donates $1 million in honor of faculty member at Stillman College
- The funds were donated to Stillman’s Cybersecurity Clinic to honor the memory of Kevin Lamar Harris, who died Oct. 5.
- Harris launched the Cybersecurity Clinic in 2022 and was a member of the executive committee for the Consortium of Cybersecurity Clinics.
- Stillman College was the first HBCU to join the consortium.
Report shows Birmingham’s Catholic Bishop dismissed abuse cases that were later found credible
- Bishop Steven J. Raica, the current bishop for the Diocese of Birmingham, was named in a recent report by the Michigan attorney general investigating clergy abuse in the Catholic Church.
- The report makes no claims that Raica engaged in sexual misconduct, but he is listed for his role while serving as a priest in the Diocese of Lansing in Michigan.
- According to the report, while in Lansing, Raica received multiple reports of abuse committed by at least 17 different priests.
- In his role of investigating the allegations, Raica and another priest ruled a claim that a deceased priest had sexually abused a child at an orphanage unsubstantiated; later the claim was found credible, and settlement was paid.
- The attorney general’s report also contains an account by an alleged victim who claims they reported a case of sexual abuse while Raica worked in a school in Michigan; according to the report, Raica told the victim he would take care of it, but never reported it. While the abuse did stop, the perpetrator was later arrested for sexual abuse of a different child.
- Donald Carson, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Birmingham, drew attention to the kindness Raica showed when speaking to victims and stated “It is not unusual that over time, additional information could be brought forth that would change initial findings.”
Alabama’s unemployment rate increases while labor force participation remains same
- Alabama’s unemployment rate rose to 3.1% in November, up from October’s 2.9%. This is also an uptick from November 2023, when the rate was 2.8%.
- For the most part, Alabama’s workforce participation rate remained the same at 57.6%, though Alabamians aged 25-54 saw a decrease in participation of two-tenths of a percent.
Announcements:
- There will be no Alabama Roundup on Dec. 30.
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